


The Graham Case

by EthanStrangeNygma



Series: The Graham Case [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Breaking of rule 10, Case Fic, F/M, Feelings Realization, Hurt! MCRT Team, Hurt! Timothy McGee, Hurt! Tony DiNozzo, I'm Bad At Tagging, Murder, NCIS Major Case Response Team (MCRT), Other, Pre-Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Team as Family, but dysfunctional
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EthanStrangeNygma/pseuds/EthanStrangeNygma
Summary: The MCRT team is called on a case, and it leads to a whole lot of bad things : coffee-deprived Gibbs, Tim and Tony getting shot, and the breaking of rule 10.
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs, Delilah Fielding/Timothy McGee, Jethro Gibbs & Abby Sciuto, Timothy McGee & Abby Sciuto
Series: The Graham Case [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028023
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26





	1. "Hope we don't have to disturb Tony."

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I'm starting that even though I didn't mean to. It will be the context of a new story I intend to post tomorrow/ in two days max. I don't really know how long it will be though.  
> Enjoy! xx E.A.J

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for graphic description of violence!

_NCIS Bullpen, 7:30 AM_

No one expected to get a case that early in the morning. They’ve all been woken up by Gibbs at 6, he knocked the doors down since no one answered their phone. They basically all were sleepwalking their way through the tasks since that hour. McGee had dropped the fingerprint machine and broke it, which almost made him cry and made them rely on Abby for the identity.  
They were still bagging, at about 6:45 am, when Abby called them to give them the identity of the body they found.

“Lieutenant James Graham, freshly came back from deployment in Iraq. He was home since 4 weeks. Ducky found some foreign DNA and I’m making some research on him.”

“Thanks Abby. Anything else?” asked Gibbs. He heard a beep at the other end of the line.

“Not yet. Bye, Bossman. Tell McGee I’ll slap him for the fingerprints reader.” Gibbs hung up.

“Let’s go back to the Yard. Hope we don’t have to disturb DiNozzo on his day off.” said Gibbs.

Abby was pacing when they came into the bullpen. A caf-pow was waiting for both Bishop and McGee on their desks, and a tall coffee for Gibbs.

“Anything new?” asked Bishop.

“McGee, can you make some research on Graham?” asked Abby.

“Sure, why?”

“Ducky is almost sure the man got tortured before being shot dead.” said Abby. “He’s thinking love crime.”

“I’ll check with Duck. Y’all gather as much info as you possibly can on the victim. Go!” barked Gibbs.

Ducky was looking thoughtfully at the body when Gibbs came in.  
“Whatcha got for me, Duck?”

“Jethro, this man has suffered. He was tortured. I found several non lethal stab wounds in his abdomen…” he turned both the arms of the body, exposing burns. “Those are second to third degree burns, and he has about seven of them. The way they look, they were inflicted when the man was still alive, but not long before he died. I would say he died about 3 hours ago, he wasn’t dragged but dumped when he was still alive. He has DNA under his nails. Given the quantity, I would say you could look out for defensive, deep wounds all over the arms. But that is not all.” said the M.E, looking up to his friend. “He was raped post mortem. Our victim here, is probably glad to be dead.”

“Abby said you think it’s a love crime?” asked Gibbs. McGee strided in the room at that.

“I doubt it boss. Our victim was kind of bullied in boot camp.”

“We all are.” said Gibbs with a stern glare. "I was bullied all throughout bootcamp. Didn't kill me, did it?"

“Boss, he was gay. Our man has been a victim of homophobia all his life, and bootcamp was a bit of a torture. He made several reports to his commandment for murder attempts.” Gibbs frowned.

“Oh dear. The poor boy must have gone through a lot.” said Ducky.

“Through hell and back.” whispered Gibbs. “Nobody reacted? The Marine Corps is much more serious about homophobic issues than it used to be. Do you have anything on his past?”

“Gibbs, we need to call Tony.” Abby strode in, looking pale even for her standards.

“Why so?”

“Because James and him knew each other. He will explain.”

"I'll do it boss." McGee called Tony, looking at Abby. It must have been a really private thing, for Abby not to say anything.


	2. Screw rule 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns the news, and he decided he can't let them work on the case without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing grief is pretty fucking hard.

Tony felt great. He had taken a week off to see some family that also denied Senior’s existence most of the time before going home, and he still had 3 days to enjoy himself. Right now, he was running himself a bath after his morning run and exercises. He poured some bubble bath and salts in the water and there was soon a pleasant smell in the bathroom. He took his phone, and saw that James might be down for a drink that night, he knew the man was home. He called and it went straight to voicemail.  
He wasn’t that surprised, James usually turned off his phone to spend as much time as he could with his family when he came back from deployment. He set his phone at arms reach and plunged in his bathtub.

He spent as much time as he could in the bath until the water went cold. He soaped up, rinsed off and toweled himself slowly. He let his thoughts wander to the team. They must be fine, McGee hadn’t spammed him with alarming texts and neither did Abby. He smiled at the thought of the people who had slowly became his family. Then his thoughts went to his boss. He hoped he didn’t make life too hard for the probies without him to shield them from his anger. He shook his head to chase any other thoughts he might have about Gibbs. 

He was dancing around in his room with a facemask on when his phone rang. So much for the non alarming stuff, he thought as he answered.

“McGee, what’s up? Missing me that much?” he said in a teasing tone.

“Tony, get your ass at the Yard now. This is important, and I can’t tell you over the phone. Get here.” McGee hung up as quickly as he could. Now that was unusual. McGee sounded alarmed and impatient, when he was always calm and quick to explain. So much for the non alarming stuff, he thought again. He took a little bit of time, and was at the yard 45 minutes later. 

When he got here, the whole squad was waiting for him. Abby didn’t run to him. She hugged him tight when he was in arms’ reach.

“What’s up? What happened?” he felt uneasy. An inexplicable sense of dread set down at the pit of his stomach, and it only got worse when Abby let go and McGee hugged him.

“I’m sorry Tony.” he said after the brief hug. “Do you anyone named James Philipp Graham? 41 years old?”

“Yes..? Yes, I know him, he is my best friend! Where’s he?!” The sense of dread became an urge to vomit. He didn’t want to know. He knew what the look McGee gave him meant, and he didn’t want to hear the words that he knew would come out of Ducky’s mouth. Ducky grabbed his hand.

“He’s downstairs, Anthony. I’m sorry.” 

Nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared them for the wail Tony let out at Ducky’s words. Their usually so calm, so smart coworker was reduced to a wailing, crying mess. Abby and McGee held onto him as tight as they could. Gibbs and Bishop stood to the side, letting Tony’s almost-siblings comfort him as well as they could.  
Tony calmed down after half an hour of loud crying. Ducky slowly led him to the morgue and left him to say his goodbyes to his best friend.

Tony was on autopilot. His brain was numb, and he knew he was shutting down, and it felt sweet. He didn’t feel the cold of the morgue hitting him as it used to. He barely registered Ducky’s “I will leave you to say your goodbyes.”  
He stared to the body on the table, entirely covered by a white sheet except for his face. He knew better than to lift the sheet. He knew that if Ducky covered it, it was because it needed to be covered. His eyes fixed on James’s face. He couldn’t find the words. He wanted to run his fingers on the short curls of his friend’s hair, but he could see it was still tamed with blood.

“I never thought I would see you here.” he whispered. “What happened? Why didn’t you tell me that someone was after you..? I could have set a protection… James, oh God, what am I going to do, now that you are gone? Come back, please, don’t let me down…” Here he was, back to crying like a kid. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and he sobbed even harder.

“Tony…” Bishop’s gentle voice started. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“No… No it’s not! He’s my best friend! Ellie I can’t lose him! I can’t! He’s too important!” Tony turned around, anger bubbling inside him. 

“I know Tony. I know that.” she remained gentle, quiet. She wrapped her arms around her friend, and Tony just broke down again. He whimpered and cried until his voice gave out, until he couldn’t stand up. 

Ellie slowly walked him to Abby’s lab, which was completely silent. She turned off the music that day. Ellie laid Tony down onto the futon next to the door. Abby sat next to him and ran her fingers slowly through Tony’s hair. It made him cry even harder.  
He didn’t remember much after that. He fell into a restless sleep, waking up every hour or so, only to find one of his teammates next to him.  
He woke up with his head on Abby’s lap, her fingers combing through his hair.

“I loved him, once. We dated. James and I.” he whispered.

“Oh Tony… I knew. I didn’t tell the team. Didn’t wanna out you or anything.”

“I wanna work the case. I can’t stay like this, moping around. I want to catch the son of a bitch who killed him, and watch him pay.” he said, sitting up. 

“Rule 10 won’t allow you to do that Tony.” said Abby matter-of-factly. 

“Screw rule 10.”  
**********************************************************************  
Tony marched into the bullpen, feeling like he could kill God if he was the one that had killed James.

"I'm working that case." he said, slamming his hands down on Gibbs' desk, his voice firm and unwavering.

"Out of question. Rule 10." Gibbs simply said, taking his eyes of the crimescene pictures for a second.

"I don't care Gibbs. I'm working that case. That son of a bitch killed my best friend."

"And that's why you are not working the case, DiNozzo." Gibbs looked back to the report.

"Graham was a dad." Bishop said that, and it was like a bomb dropped, killing every noise in the bullpen. Tony was hit by the realization. Tom. Thomas Graham. James' 6 years old son. He hadn't thought of him. He was an orphan now. His anger only got bigger, and he felt himself blush from it.

"I am working that case, Gibbs. Whether you like it or not, I'm not letting his son down."

"Why do you insist?" asked Gibbs, visibly annoyed.

"Because I can't fucking allow myself to mop around and grieve for now. I knew James better than anyone else did, I'm your best shot right now Gibbs. There's an orphan kid and grieving parents awaiting for answers, and you bet I will be the one to bring them comfort, if not their son."

They held each other's stares for a few minutes, and Gibbs was left almost breathless by the determination he saw shining into Tony's eyes. 

"Fine. But if you feel like it's too much, I will put you on leave until the case is solved. Understood, DiNozzo?"

"Sold, boss." They exchanged a nod before they turned on the plasma.


	3. Love you. Always had, always will.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony being an Angry Dad™, basically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm late and all but  
> I was busy with college work  
> and I was focused on other gay shit as well  
> there we go again kids

“James Graham, lieutenant, got into the army as soon as he was out of Remington. Got out with the honors from his fellow students for beating up half the honor corp.” said Tony when the picture of his friend popped up. He ignored the lump in his throat. 

“We contacted his unit, no one had seen him since he came back four weeks ago. No one worried. He didn’t have his phone on him when he was found, but we found bills at his name.” said Bishop, with a frown at the end. 

“Not surprised. He usually turned off his phone when he came back. Given how forgetful he is, he must have forgotten to turn it back on. He has a flip phone and he had trouble remembering to take it when he went out.” said Tony, letting a sad chuckle out. He remembered always sliding it into James' coat pocket every morning, or else he'd forgot about it.

“We need to check his apartment.” said Gibbs. “Might have a laptop or something. DiNozzo, McGee, you do that.” McGee and Tony nodded and went on their way.

The ride to the old condo was silent. Tony fished his set of keys from his pocket and opened the door.  
They walked slowly through the apartment. There was no dust, which meant James probably spent one of his last days here. The lump in his throat grew bigger when his eyes landed on the door of Tom’s room. He went through James’s room, letting McGee do Tom’s. He didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. He bagged the laptop and went through the drawers. Nothing out of the ordinary in here either, he bagged the external hard drive as McGee came into the room.

“His kid is messy, damn.” he said casually. Tony frowned and turned around

“No..? No, Tom’s not that messy. He is a kid, but he’s like Bishop. Organized chaos.”

“Well go see for yourself.” McGee jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Tony got up and indeed he walked into the messiest room he had seen for a while.

“That’s not normal, McGee. Tom knew something. I have no idea where he is now, but we need to find him quick.”

“What makes you think he knows something?”

“Tom doesn’t trash his room unless he’s overwhelmed or hurt. Or both.” Tony frowned, thinking. “All of the most important things for Tom have disappeared. Time to pay a visit to the grand parents.” 

Tim followed him out. Tony drove McGee back to the Yard before driving to a little residential neighborhood in the outskirts of town. He got out of the car and knocked onto the door of the closest house. An old man opened, eyes red and tears still brimming in his eyes.

“Hey there, David.” said Tony, his voice soft.  
“Anthony… Anthony someone came over… Old guy and a cute little lady… James…”  
“Agents Gibbs and Bishop. Coworkers. I’m… I’m so sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“Tony it has never been your fault. You couldn’t have done anything.” The man pulled him into a hug. “Come in. Tom’s here. He dropped him off last night. He… He was acting normal. No sign of stress whatsoever.”  
The conversation was interrupted by Janet, David’s wife coming in. 

“Anthony, my boy…” she said. “Don’t you blame yourself. James… James would never ever blame you.”  
“I know. But Tom…”  
“Tom knows.” said David. “He… He heard when your colleagues told us they found the body.”  
“Where’s he?” asked Tony softly.  
“In his room.” said David. Tony looked at his watch.  
“I have about 15 minutes. Can I see him?”  
“Don’t expect him to come down here. He’s been shutting down.” Tony’s heart dropped a little.

He climbed up the stairs. He put his ear on the door at the end of the corridor. He heard the familiar sound of pages turning and knocked.  
“Hey buddy. It’s me, Tony. Can I come in?” He waited a few seconds and the door slowly opened. He entered in the room. A little boy was curled up in a ball under a blue and green weighted blanket. “Hey bud. You don’t wanna come out and hug me?”  
A little whimper came from under the blanket.  
“Ok, got it. Tom, I’m making you a promise right now. Whoever did that to your dad, I’m going to find him, and then, I’m coming to pick you up. Daddy might be gone, but I promise you, I’m not going anywhere.” A little hand came out from under the blanket, pinky sticking out. Tony wrapped his own pinky around the kid’s. “Love ya buddy. Always had, always will.” He got up and closed the door behind him.  
Now, it was time for action. That son of a bitch wouldn't catch himself.


	4. No Match Found

McGee and Abby were working on the hard drive and laptop in silence, when Abby gasped.

“Tim, I found something.”

McGee took a curious look at the screen and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. There were three documents : “Will - Draft”, “Tony” and “Tom”.

“It was in a “letters” folder. I think the will one is pretty explicit, I clicked on it. But the Tony and Tom things seem… Much more private.” 

Gibbs came in the lab at that moment.

“You’re already searching around?” he asked.

“Yep. The hard drive is mostly filled with photos, and the laptop is full of movies and music. But we found a folder for letters. It has his will in it. We should forward that to the family.” said Abby.

“I’ll send Bishop to do it. Anything else?”

“Yeah. The laptop was still connected to an email account. He had been sending emails to a certain Uriah Johnson.” said McGee.

“Are you absolutely sure of that name? Uriah Johnson.” said Tony, looking through the emails. He had gone down to check with Abby and McGee. This was, by far, the most stressful case they had been through for him. He knew deep down it was a hate crime. James had publicly came out, and in the Marine Corps, it was still very much frowned upon. And hearing that name, he was scared someone else was threatened.

“Yeah, the IP and all check out. Why?” said McGee.

“He was a Remington student.” Tony frowned. “You remember when I said he beat up half the honor corps? It was mostly for that guy. He was his unrequited highschool sweetheart before me. Johnson used to be bullied, a lot. Honor corps nearly broke him until James stepped in. His feelings weren’t returned, but he would have taken a bullet for the guy. So did Uriah.”

“You know where the man lives?”

“No idea. He graduated after me and James. He’s a year younger than us. I don’t think he knows anything about the case.”

“Why so?” McGee frowned. They usually didn't rule suspects out so quickly and without solid evidence.

“The last email. It’s from earlier today.” The three of them skimmed through the email. “Uriah was worried. They seemed to talk quite a lot, and James always answered.”

"Oh Tony," Abby looked up at him. "There were letters for you and Tom in the computer. I sent them to you."

Tony frowned more and more as he thought. Letters? James always said things, never wrote them.

A machine dinged and Abby turned around.

“We’ve got no match on the DNA.” she said. Tony swore. "That being said, the amount of it confirms that the wounds were deep. Like, stitches-worth deep. Probably a set of three or four scratches all over the suspect's forearms. Also, the toxicology report found some traces of morphine in his blood."

"Chances he was asleep when everything went down?" asked Tony. He prayed James was unconscious during all of that. The very thought of him being this hurt was sending jolts of pure rage through his veins. 

"Not asleep, but seriously out of it when it started." said Abby. She swallowed before continuing. "He... He was conscious for most of it. According to Ducky, he died from the pain. Given the adrenaline level I found, he died from a pain-induced or trauma-induced heart attack."

"Which means?" asked McGee.

"That James was on fight or flight mode until the very last moment, and that his heart gave out." Tony felt himself start shaking at his own words, uttering them through gritted teeth. He couldn't believe it. "I'm going to find the son of a bitch. No fucking quarters for that one." He went back to the bullpen, running on pure rage.


	5. Cold-hearted, no family bastard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs and Tony clash in the bullpen, and Ducky helps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for a panic attack?

And the day wasn’t about to get any better. As he stood in front of the plasma, Gibbs spoke   
  
“We’re going to have to interview the kid since there’s no match. Need a description.”    


“What?! Are you out of your mind?!” He turned around, looking at Gibbs with disbelief. “He’s not doing good, Gibbs, he can’t fucking speak and I’m not even sure he was here and-”   


“DiNozzo!” Gibbs snapped, getting up and facing him. “We have no choice now. I know, having your kid feeling so awful feels like hell, but we have a case!”   


“How’d you know?!” Tony snarled. His mistake registered a second too late. Gibbs looked at him with so much hurt in his eyes, he felt all anger leave his body and being replaced by dread. “Gibbs I’m  sorry I didn’t mean that.”   


“You know why I know? Because I had to watch my baby girl cry as I got deployed, DiNozzo.” Gibbs turned around and sat back down.    


“Gibbs, I…” He felt awful. He knew he fucked up big time and didn’t know how he could make it up to him.

“You should bring the kid here. Because he might be in danger. Because the people that killed James might be after his ass, and that, believe me, losing a kid is the worst fucking pain imaginable! Even more so when you can’t tell them you love them before they are taken away.” Gibbs kept an even tone, and Tony had wished he’d yell at him. Anything but the indifference mask that Gibbs wore each time something hurt.  
“I’ll bring him in.” he quietly grabbed his coat and went out.   
  
As soon as Tony was in the elevator, Gibbs let out a long, shaky breath. His heart was aching and pounding, and his stomach churning. He thought about the tears on Kelly’s face, which was the last vision of his baby that he ever had. His hands started to shake, despite trying to suppress the shudders. He felt slightly lightheaded and he booked it to the elevator. He went to autopsy, and Ducky gave him one look and frowned.  
“Mister Palmer, would you be so kind to leave us alone for a while?” Palmer nodded and went out, carrying a bunch of things to join Abby in the lab. The moment the door closed, Ducky pointed the stool to Gibbs. “Jethro?”  


“Duck… The girls…” Ducky paled. It was never good when he started to talk about the girls. “DiNozzo… DiNozzo asked me… how’d I know what it felt like to have a child feeling awful… He can be such an ass…” His fists clenched as anger built up inside him. How could he say stuff like that? Tony knew him almost as much as Ducky and yet…   
  
“Jethro. Listen to me, boy. What he said is by no means acceptable, but you shall try and understand. He’s working against the clock because this child is his only memory of his lost loved one. And you know more than anyone that a child witness is in danger. If our young Anthony listened to his gut, he would have already sent the child at the other end of the world to protect him.” 

  
“And where would he be safer than in a federal building, Duck?”   


“Virtually? Nowhere, as no one could find him here. But for Anthony, the safest place he could be in would be away from the case. I can understand that he does not want him to be exposed and to relive such a trauma, if he was here.” Gibbs lowered his head, still shaking, but no longer from sheer anger. Ducky sat beside him, holding Jethro’s hands. “Jethro, it’s alright.”   


“No… No it’s not. He shouldn’t have said that but… But I get why he did. He sees me as a cold-hearted, no family bastard. Hell, they all do. I… I should have told him that it was better for the kid… I just snapped at him because I was caught off guard. It still hurts so bad, you know… Seeing Tony go through that is… not something I ever wished to see.”   


“Jethro, you will have to talk it out. But close the case first. I meant it, when I said that you are all working against the clock.” The M.E stayed silent for a few minutes, letting Gibbs collect himself. The man looked up at him with a new found determination.   


“We’re gonna solve that case. Kid’s safety first.” Ducky smiled, and so did Gibbs. He went back up to the bullpen, stopping for coffee on the way.   


He saw Bishop and McGee in the bullpen.    
“Tony went to interview the kid. You two, go to the hospitals around the city and check if anyone came in to get stitches to their forearms.”

“On it!” they jumped out of their seats.


	6. I'm sorry bud.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid testifies, but it's not that useful, and Bishop stresses everyone the fuck out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me posting 2 chapters today. Remember when I said that it would take two days at most? That was a lie.

Tony knocked on the door, trying not to overthink what happened in the bullpen. He really had overstepped the boundaries, and he dreaded having to come back to the bullpen. He didn’t have much time to think it over. The door opened directly on Tom.   


“Hey there, buddy!” all his worries were forgotten as the boy clung to him.    


“Nana told me you would come and ask me questions.” Tony congratulated himself for thinking ahead and calling Janet ahead. The woman hadn’t been happy to learn the boy was about to get questioned, but she apparently managed to get Tom to cooperate. Given the fact that he was still holding a candy wrapper, Tony knew exactly how.   


“Exactly. Go and sit in the kitchen baby.” He pulled out his cell phone as Tom went to the kitchen.   
  


He dialled Gibbs number, hoping the man would answer. Gibbs was always professional on case, but given how upset he had looked earlier, Tony would deserve a silent treatment.    


“Yeah Gibbs?”   


“Boss. Can I take the kid’s deposition here? I don’t want to disturb him more than he is.”   


“Sure DiNozzo. Just get me that deposition. See ya.”   
Gibbs hung up and Tony sighed. He still had that same indifferent tone. It somehow felt worse than the anger or the silent treatment. He shook his head and went in, hoping what Tom had to say would help them.    
  


“Ok buddy. I know the first question’s answer, but I need it to be as formal as possible. Can you do that for me?” he asked Tom as he sat in front of Tom. He wanted to do it formal, because a kid’s testimony was already going to be very discussed, he wanted it to be rock solid if it was of any use. He set up the recorder. “Can you tell me what’s your name and age?”    


“Thomas Ulrich Graham, I am 6 years old.” Tony held his hand as he took notes, stroking his thumb over the knuckles, knowing it soothed the boy, who was very stressed out if the way he chewed on his necklace was telling anything.

“Were you here on the night of the 14th of march?” 

“No… No, Daddy brought me here in the morning.”

“Did he seem different? Stressed or worried.”    


“No… No he was normal. He had to go to the doctor and we left in a hurry, I couldn’t even put my room in order before, even if Daddy hates the mess. He said he wouldn’t be mad.”   


“Was your dad seeing anyone? As, did he have a boyfriend?”   


“No. No, no one was around like you were, Ny… Why do you ask so many questions?”   


“Because me and my friends are trying to find out what happened to your dad. You did a great job, buddy.” he turned off the recorder. “I’m very proud of you for answering. You look tired, do you want  to rest?”   


“Can’t.” Tom climbed on his lap, clinging to his neck.   


“Why can’t you rest?”   


“Daddy… Daddy isn’t coming back, Ny? He…”   


Tony had to swallow his tears.   
“No baby. Daddy isn’t coming back. I’m so, so sorry, Tom.” He wrapped the boy in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry bud.”   
The boy stayed quiet, and Tony pulled back a little, looking at him. 

  
Tom started signing.   


“ _ Can you stay with me?” _ _   
_

Tony hesitated for a moment. He was supposed to get to the bullpen as soon as possible. But he didn’t know how this case would go, and he wanted to lay down for a while, just to untangle the mess in  his mind. So he signed back.   


“ _ Of course. _ ”   
He carried the boy to his room, and they climbed in the tiny bed together, Tony holding Tom as close as he could. They stayed silent for a long while, Tom stimming quietly until he fell asleep. Tony slowly went back over the event of the last day.    
  
At about 11 am, he learnt his best friend of all times, James, died. He left an orphan behind.   
It turned out to be a murder and the testimony Tom gave him wouldn’t be that useful. They had no lead for now, and it was driving him crazy. He was pulled out of his thoughts by his phone ringing.   


“Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo?” he whispered as not to wake the sleeping kid.   


“Tony, we found something. You need to get here, with the kid and his grandparents, as soon as possible.” Bishop’s voice was a little higher pitched than usual.   


“What? What’s up?”   


“Tony they need to be placed under protective custody as soon as possible.”    
  



	7. We need to act.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delilah isn't good news, when she's on a case with them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woohoo, writer's block is done for now

_"Tony, they need to be placed under protective custody as soon as possible."  
_  
Tony’s blood drained from his face when the words registered.  
  
“What..?”  
  
“Not over the phone. We already booked an hotel for them. Someone will pick them up. They’ll be booked under another name. Tell them that.”  
  
“Will do.” He hung up and turned his head to see Tom awake. “Buddy, we’re going to work.”  
  
“ _I’m coming?”_ the kid signed.  
  
“No, I’m going to work, you and grandpa and grandma are going to very cool hotel. Pack up, I’ll tell them.” Tony made his way to the master bedroom. The couple was sitting here chatting. “We need to pack up. You three are officially under protective custody.”  
  
“Tony what’s going on?! Tom won’t handle the change well! He needed a familiar environment! He’s having meltdowns after meltdowns already.” David looked at him as he was mad to ask them to move.  
  
“David I have no idea what’s going on, but believe me, we don't take that measure often. I’ll make this as short as can be. You have a suite at an hotel, and I won’t be the one taking you all here. You’ll be picked up and given fake identities. I can’t tell you anything more, first because I don’t know anything, second because it would be a threat to your security and probably national security. Given the measure, I will only ask for two things : first, do NOT let Tom out of your sight. Never, under no circumstances should he be left alone in the hotel. He’s most probably a target. Second, under no circumstances try to contact me. You can’t be connected to me in any way. Can you do that?”  
  
“Ok. Ok, we’ll do that.”  
  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t plan that. C’mon, pack up. I’ll help Tom out.”  
  
“Tony..?” Janet interrupted him.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Do you seriously think Tom is in danger?”  
  
“Yes. We think it’s a hate crime caused by James’ sexuality, and both Tom and I are in danger. Tom because he’s his son, me because, from what I understood, I was his very last relationship, and we were still close enough for people to think we were still together. I think they are very close to putting you all into the Witness Protection Program.”  
  
“Take care, Tony. You are grown, but we don’t want to lose you either.”  
  
“You won’t.”  
  
He helped Tom pack up his stuff. He was tried not to let his mind run a mile a minute, but it was nearly impossible. Tom looked overly stressed out, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.  
  
“Hey, Tom. We have chewies for that, boy.” Tony reached out, tugging lightly on the cord of the necklace Tom was wearing. “You need to promise me to try and not hurt yourself, ok?”  
Tom didn’t look at him and Tony held back a sigh. “Do you want a hug?”  
  
Tom climbed on his lap, rubbing his cheek on the soft material of Tony’s shirt. They stayed silent for a while, Tony rocking Tom softly, placing tender kisses on the top of his head.  
  
“I’ll make all of this as right as can be. Then, I promise, I will take care of you…”  
Tom straightened up.  
  
“ _I love you.”_ He signed, with a very tired look in his eyes. He looked so much older than 6 right now. Tony's heart tightened. He didn’t like seeing that look on anyone’s face, much less on a kid’s face, much much less on _his_ kid’s face.  
  
“I love you too. C’mon, let’s pack all of that.”

* * *

Tony watched them leave, praying they’d be ok. He made his way back to the Yard. He walked into the bullpen, determined to get answers and solve that case as soon as they could. He found a note on his desk.  
“MTAC.” Well. He stormed up the stairs. The room was actually buzzing with activity, which was rare. McGee, Bishop, Delilah, Fornell and Gibbs were in here, researching and making calls.  
  
“Tony! Are they safe?” Bishop asked, not looking up from her laptop.  
  
“Yep, just got it confirmed. Care to explain what’s going on?”  
Delilah turned around to look at him, laptop on her lap.  
  
“Tony, I think I know who did it.”  
  
“Delilah… If you found out…” Tony paled. Delilah here in person was often bad news. After all, her work was busting terrorists. The woman looked at all of them, and her tone made Tony’s skin crawl.  
  
“As I said earlier, this is a matter of domestic terrorism. We need to act, and fast.”  
  



	8. NOT A CHAPTER // Explaination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You all deserve to know

Hey everyone!  
  
I'm sorry I haven't posted in a whiiiiiiiiiiiile   
I was very, very busy with college work, and writer's block, and being depressed   
I know it's not much of an excuse, but I didn't take much time to write, and I have been burned out for the better part of the last month or so, writing wasn't my top priority, especially since the plot is kinda heavy, morally speaking.  
The next chapter is painstakingly coming together right now, and should be posted in a couple of days.  
  
I will delete that note once I have posted chapter 8, 9 and 10, I think, and I'll try to post them as quickly as possible!  
  
Much love from the overworked schlub I am,  


EAJ :) <3


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